The Big Reveal!

Happy Thursday! …

ok … I have to admit … I'm not particularly happy this morning.  Actually I'm grumpy as hell … sooooooo freaking tired today.  The last 3 days in a row I've been awake between 3:30 and 4:30 am … and not going back to sleep.  Someone has a nightmare … the cat is after the gerbils … or, as was the case last night, my knees were KILLING me!  Yes my knees.  Spaz-girl here still has trouble walking and talking at the same time … was walking with a friend yesterday and caught my sandal on the 1 mm raised sidewalk block and down I went …. %(%^($%*!

I am WAY too old to be falling.  Argh!  Naturally once I got home I cleaned it up a bit … then posted it on Facebook to get lots of sympathy from my friends lol.

What REALLY freaked me out as I was "going down" was that I could have sprained my ankle … or broken my wrist … and THAT would have been bad!  Why?  Well … cause next week I'm going on a little trip.  Remember last week I mentioned I was working on something .. and that was motivating me to get all my pictures printed and in my Project Life albums?  Well … now the cat is out of the bag and I can tell you all about it!

My eldest, Rebecca, turned 13 on Monday.  For months, when we asked her "what would you like for our 13th birthday" she had a standard reply.  "Disneyland with Mom or a pug".  *lol*.  Well … to make a very VERY long story short Momma here made it happen.  Thanks to my family working together Rebecca is getting her wish and on Wednesday she and I are flying to Disneyland for 3 full days of awesome.  I'm SO freaking excited I could BURST!  Anyone who knows me knows I would happily got to Disneyland twice a year if I could.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it there!!!  My kids also love it there.  Craig … he'd rather stick pins in his eyes than step foot in the place ever again but me … well … to me it IS the happiest place on Earth.  This trip is SOOOOO much more than "just" going to Disneyland, though.  It is a dream I have had for about 3 years now.  I have looked SO forward to the day when I could take a trip with just each of my girls - just the two of us - alone.  Just me and Rebecca … just me and Alicia.

I know exactly how, and when, this dream came about.  It came from three people who very briefly, but very deeply, touched my life - Shirley, Carmela and Todd.  All three of these amazing people had children around the same age as mine.  All three of these amazing people loved their children beyond words.  All three of these amazing people lost their battles with cancer … and their deaths touched me in a very profound way.  I didn't know any of them terribly well … but well enough to know that they all fought their battles with dignity … and that they would have given ANYTHING to spend more time with their children.  2 1/2 years ago I quit smoking.  I had smoked for about 25 years.  I just stopped.  I thought about these three people and how there was nothing they could do to prevent the cancers they had (they all had different cancers).  I thought about how unfair it was.  I thought about having a conversation with MY kids one day … where I may have to tell them I had lung cancer … and yeah … I may have been able to have done something to prevent that .. but didn't.  I couldn't bear the thought of ever having that conversation … or of leaving my girls without a mother … and I quit smoking.

I also saw what these three people did before their passing … they took pictures with their kids … they worked on scrapbooks for their kids to look back on … and they took holidays with their kids when they were still healthy enough to do so.  I realized I wanted to do that.  No, thank God, I don't have cancer … but you never know what is around the corner … and we all take time for granted.  We don't MAKE time for what is truly important.  Making memories, spending time with the ones we love and just being happy.  That's when my dream of taking a one-on-one holiday with each of my girls was born.  I hope Shirley, Carmela and Todd are looking down and know the impact they had on so many people … the impact they had on ME … and are smiling :)

Rebecca is over the MOON with excitement!  It will be SO great for her to get away from her stresses and anxieties and just be ridiculously happy for 3 whole days!  Craig and Alicia will have loads of fun too!  Naturally I have spoiled Alicia with presents she will get while I'm away (books, a jar of candy, robot kits for her and Craig to put together, a sleepover with two of her best friends …).  It's just going to be so awesome for everyone on so many different levels.  Best.  Idea.  Ever!

Craig took a video of the "big reveal" but Alicia is very hard to hear so I won't bother posting it.  I WILL, however post a few screen shots … not the best pics but it's all I have (I like to "live" the moments and not watch them through a camera lens so never have too many good shots of moments like these!)

Alicia had made a scavenger hunt for Rebecca.  There were 4 clues hidden in envelopes - they were the letters WISH punched out in silver glimmer paper.  She had to rearrange the letters to spell the word.  Alicia then read a noted that told Rebecca we put all our love together to give her a magical wish for her birthday.  She had to close her eyes, make a wish and that the wish would come true.  (As I feared she made her standard wish that "my entire family would like forever" but Disneyland would have been her next wish lol)

 Above she opened the card that held the Disney tickets ...

 … and it's starting to sink in ...

… and I was SOOOO glad she hugged Alicia first.  Rebecca loves deeper than any person I have ever known … but she has resistance to telling Alicia that she loves her … or ever hugging her.  Today she gave her multiple hugs.  This shot makes me well up every time I look at it.  Just LOOK at Alicia's face!  That sweet girl was SO torn.  She is very jealous that she doesn't get her trip first … but she is SO happy for Rebecca.  She was so gracious about it all but I knew her heart was so sad :(

Rebecca was crying too - naturally my mom and I were a total mess!

 Another hug!!

Happy, happy teenager!

Oh!  Wanna see the card I made her?  Here it is …

Perfect!  I used the Balloon Celebration set for the strings (actually the strings are currently LOST (!!!) so I had to freehand them by tracking them with a marker on the case, turning it over and using the CASE like a stamp … then going over them with a Sharpie!  Guess I'm sifting through my 2 bbs of garbage soon *sigh*).  Then I just punched out balloons with the Balloon punch using my black, red and Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper.  Tied a piece of White Baker' Twine, attached it with a glue dot, stamped the perfect sentiment (from the retired "Word Play") and put it all together.  Rebecca later realized the red, black and white "tease".  Love it!

I think that's about all I wanted to share for now. I have a few other projects I'd like to post before we head off for our fun-filled holiday so pop in again soon!  I'm off to CAREFULLY walk the dog (can you imagine if I would have sprained my ankle yesterday???  Gah!  Disaster!!!).

Whatever you get up to today, make it a stampy one!!!

xoxo


Tam

How I Project LIfe® with Andrea Withers

Happy Tuesday!

Here is how Andrea Withers does Project Life … this is exactly how I do it - works for me!

Rather than putting memorabilia into the 12" x 12" sheets I use the zip-closed binder "bags" (similar to these below) that I picked up at Costco (they also have them at the Dollar Store … or any stationery store!)  They are AWESOME and hold everything you want to save right in your photo album!

Have a stampy day!


Tam

How I Project Life® with Katie Adams

Happy Monday!

Following yesterday's epic Project Life post I thought I'd post a few videos on how OTHER'S "Project Life"

Check out the video ..



I do something similar - I grab my pictures first and lay them out .. but then I grab my pocket pages to see which fit my pictures best and THEN I go through my journalling cards.  We all do it a different way … whatever works, right?

Have a stampy day - pop in again soon!


Tam

Project Life Marathon

Happy Sunday!

Sunday again?  When did THAT happen?  This week has FLOWN by … and I couldn't be happier!  Today is the day - a BIG one for me!  I'll fill you in on all the details very soon - suffice it to say I have been waiting for today for almost 2 month and is every mom's dream - to put a smile the size of Canada on her child's face …. stay tuned for all the deets!

I suppose what made the week fly was that I was VERY focused on accomplishing a task.  My pictures.  Yes.  Here they are, in all their glory.  968 of them.  Ugh.

I have always prided myself in the fact… wait … is that a phrase?  I thought it was but now that I type it, it sounds weird … how about "I've always taken pride in the the fact" instead … right …. I've always taken pride in the fact that a) I take pictures b) I PRINT pictures c) I write dates, places, people and their ages in the BACK of the pictures and d) I put them in albums.  Then, about 4 years ago, I got a phone.  It wasn't a fancy iPhone but I started taking a few more pictures than "the old days".  Two years ago I got an iPhone … then all hell broke loose.  Yes - I turned into "one of them".  One of those people who takes pictures of food … or their feet … or a leaf … or anything else that seems funny, cute or capture-able.  I still printed them, logged them and put them in albums.  Then last year happened.  In early July I printed a swack of pictures and was on a mission to get them into albums before our August trip to Hawaii.  Always being one who works well with deadlines and pressure I got it done.  Yay me!  That was July 2015.  7 months passed …. I had taken over 800 pictures in those 7 months.  Hawaii, first day of school, Alicia's 10th birthday, Halloween, Christmas, Trixie (our Elf on the Shelf).  Yes.  7 months and I hadn't printed a single picture.  Oh I had TRIED … I even upload a bunch … but then I got confused.  I had pictures on my phone, Craig's phone, Rebecca's phone and a camera.  When I uploaded them to my computer they all come through in different feeds / sequences … and many of the pictures were very similar … I got confused as to which ones I had uploaded to the Costco photo site and which ones I hadn't … and it all fell apart.  I aborted the mission and buried my head in the sand for another 3 months … and another 200 pictures were taken.  Ugh.  I started losing sleep *lol* - you think I'm joking!  Anyone watch Big Bang Theory?  I'm a lot like Sheldon Cooper in that I need closure on things … and this was a BIG thing that needed to be finished.  It was a very overwhelming task … but it had to be done so one one weekend I just set out to get the bloomin' things printed!  In order to make it easier I wasn't very selective in which ones I printed - I pretty much uploaded them ALL.  It took forever … and 3 trips to Costco before I had them completely done (once they were printed I realized I had missed some … and then I realized I needed duplicates of some … hence 3 trips).

Months passed and although I had written the DATES on the back of each picture they were no closer to being "logged and filed".  Again - VERY overwhelming.  Why wasn't I getting them in albums?  I bought 8 packages of Project Life photo pages.  I had 4 photo albums waiting and ready.  I realized why.  I hadn't written names and ages on each picture yet.  I had tried to lie to myself … I told myself I didn't HAVE to do that anymore - I could just write names and ages ONCE … on one of the journaling cards … that would be good enough!  Ya, no.  I'm a creature of habit and once I start doing something a certain way I have a VERY hard time changing it … so last week I spent 2 hours tackling the names and ages.  Having said that I decided to work SMARTER, not HARDER.  Rather than spending 7 hours writing everything out I grabbed my stash of labels and PRINTED them .. then slapped them on the back of the pictures.  The task was done in 2 hours.

NOW things were really moving!  I had a goal and a deadline.  The pictures would all be in albums by Monday, May 2nd come hell or high water!  Well.  Im here to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!  

4 days, 7 hours, 6 packages of Project Life pocket pages, 2 photo albums, 968 pictures and 1 sore back later and they are all in my albums! … AND a week ahead of schedule!  Now I'm not gunna lie - they are only in the sleeves - the journalling cards and journalling aren't done but I'm totally FINE with that. That may take another 2 years to "get around to".  The mission was photos in sleeves.  Check!  The best part was it really wasn't "that bad"!  I posted my awesomeness on Facebook and had a few friends comments and ask how I did it so fast (as well as "will you do mine?" lol).  The ONLY way to answer the questions is/was PROJECT LIFE.  So many of my friends still don't "get" Project Life.  They don't understand how it works.  Well … if you are one of those people, read on!

Project Life really is just a ramped up photo album.  Seriously!  In my old photo album I would slide 3 4" x 6" photos in horizontal sleeves, per page.  Project Life is the same … except, if you want, you can get a LOT more pictures on a page!  Here's what the pages look like ...

See the top one?  There are spots for (3) 4" x 6" horizontal pictures.  There are also (6) spots for 3" x 4" "somethings".  Those "somethings" can be pictures that are cut down to size, or journalling cards.  They can either be pretty patterned paper or blank cards that you write on - jotting down a memory about the picture or who/what/where/when/why.  A ramped up photo album!

Everyone has a different way of attacking getting their photos in the sleeves.  Here is how I attacked my pile.

I started by opening my Project Life pocket page packages.  Each packages has (12) 12" x 12" pages … and there are (2) of six different sleeve layouts.  For ease I made piles of each of the different layouts and clipped each layout together with binder clips (as shown above).  Some sleeves have horizontal 4" x 6" openings, others are vertical, some are 4" x 4" and so on.  It's easy to figure out which layout goes in which pile quickly … the bottom corner of each sleeve has a number on it - each number is a certain layout … see below ...

Once my sleeves were organized I was ready to roll … now the question was "which page layout for my pictures".  This part took a while to wrap my head around.  Most of my pictures were taken on my phone and as such were vertical shots.  Most of my sleeves were horizontal.  Ack!  I figured it out.  I grabbed my stack of pictures and picked all the pictures from one day and layed them out on the counter ...

In this instance the large majority were vertical shots.  I flipped through my sleeves and found a layout with 4 vertical spots and (4) 3" x 4" spots and one with 4 vertical spots and (3) 4" x 4" spots.  I then simply slid my pictures in accordingly.  Lots of my pictures were very similar … and I realized I didn't have to have the entire 4" x 6" picture filed … I CAN trim them … in fact I also quickly realized I could trim MOST of them!  There were times I had trouble figuring which pictures to NOT trim … there is always a lot of "dead space" in my pictures *lol*

I chipped away and chipped away … one day at a time.  I thought the 400 Hawaii pictures would be the worst but they actually went quite quickly.  For those pictures I usually only left one pocket blank for journalling - there is only so much you can say about 50 beach shots on the same day.  For those days/pictures I would get 7-10 pictures PER PAGE done.  This system really does save a lot of space in albums as you can trim so many pictures and fit more in per page.

Here is what I ended up with ...

 … and here is what was left … a little bucket of trimmed picture garbage and about 60 pictures that were on the cutting room floor - I took a LOT of pictures of the same tree … same sunset … same beach.  Didn't need them all.  I knew when I printed them that I would waste a lot of them but it's the only way I could get past the "get them printed phase" … and it was only about $6 in wasted pictures.  All good!

So there we have it!  ALMOST all caught up.  I DID upload another 60 pictures yesterday that need to be picked up from Costco and put into pages.  That will be done Monday or Tuesday.  Most of those are just pictures of food, the pets … the odd one of the kids (yes, I now take more pictures of the pets than the kids *lol*) … but that should take about 10 minutes to slap into the album.  I'm so pleased with myself!  Sure, the journalling will take some time, but the most important part is done.  I can now move on with my day :)

I HIGHLY encourage everyone I know to PRINT those pictures and get them into albums.  Documenting our lives is so very important.  The kids LOVE flipping through them … as do I.  We relive the good - and not-so-good - times in our lives.  It brings us together and we share in our memories.  In the words of Martha Stewart - "It's a good thing."

Right!  I have a BIG, BUSY day ahead (more memories to be made and logged!!!) so off I go!  Whatever you get up to today I hope you have a stampy one xoxo


Tam

2016 Retiring Products List

Happy Tuesday!

Gotta make it quick today - I'm off to the doctor to request some blood work.  Gotta find out why my body doesn't want to lose weight despite working out 5 days a week since January and eating clean/healthy via a nutritionist.  Yep - a whopping 8 pounds in over 12 weeks???  Something's not right.  Stay tuned on that.  In the meantime … just wanted to post a copy of the 2016 retiring product list for you … but I can't figure out how to do that *lol*.    I find the EASIEST way to SEE what is retiring (I'm all about visual!) so click here to see the accessories that are retiring and click here to see which stamp sets are retiring.   I wouldn't rush to see the retiring sets as those are guaranteed to be produced until May 22nd but everything else is only while supplies last and yes, items are already sold out!  Yesterday was a bit of a gong show as every demo in North America was trying to access the sight to a) check out the retiring list b) place an order and/or c) check out the new catalogue (a perk all demos get - we get to see the catalogues in advance of them going "live".  The system was overloaded and chaos ensued lol.  Luckily I'm fairly persistent and managed to get an order in to scoop some of my favourite things that are retiring *sniff*.  What ARE some of those items?

The Craft / Ribbon Scissors
BLACK EMBOSSING POWDER!!!
3" x 3" envelopes
2-Way Glue pen
1" x 8" cello bags (the ones that are perfect for smarties!)
2 1/2" circle punch
Scalloped Circle Punch
Antique Brads (*sniff)
Bird Builder Punch (a MUST have!)
Candy Dots
1/8" brads
Crystal effects
Honeycomb embellishments
Mini muslim bags
White Signo Gel pen
White Staz-on
Word Window Punch
… just to name a *few*!!!

Click here and here to SEE the items retiring … then print off the list that I emailed you (if you aren't on my email list and would like to be send me a message!), go through your catalogue and mark off what is retiring.  If there is something you want order it NOW - best bet is to order online here - Edmonton customer remember to use Hostess Code 97QEHB3Q at the checkout if your order is less than $200.  You all be entered into a draw for free product at the end of the month.

That's it for now - I better go get that workout and dog walk in before my appointment … happy shopping and have a stampy day!


Tam

Organizing the Craft Cave

Happy Monday!

As promised today I'm sharing a few pics of my fairly tidy Craft Cave.  Yes, twice a year it IS organized.  Here is how it looks those 2 times a year …

This little bit of a hot mess is a little recessed portion of one wall in my cave.  When Craig built my room he made half the wall a closet and the other half is this recessed ares with shelves.  (He built the room with re-sale in mind … it is to code to be another bedroom if anyone every wanted to use it as such).  Doesn't LOOK like I did much work on this area but it probably took me the longest.  The top two shelves were all books and paperwork of some sort.  I pitched a LOT of it.  You can see how the shelved dip a bit … that's from having 10 years of weight on them lol.  I went through all my little gift / 3-D items and displayed them SLIGHTLY better than they were … at least now they aren't stacked 4 high and falling every time you walk by them!

 These bins are under the shelves in the first picture.  They are mostly retired items … but the Big Shot Dies are both retired and current.  Those things are HARD to store in a decent way.  This bucket storage unit (from Canadian Tire or Toys R Us) are the BEST!  Whilst this one holds my retired toys I have another one that holds all my current punches and my current (and retired) ribbons.  It really is a great way to store items.  Highly recommend them if you have the space!

 These are some of my retired stamp sets.  I don't love this system of storage.  It's an IKEA shelf … and yes, it holds a lot of stamp sets … but the problem is the unit is very DEEP which means I store the stamps two deep … makes it a royal pain to see what I've got when I'm searching for something I know I have.  The sets are SORT of organized … the top two shelves are all holidays - mostly Christmas but also Halloween, Easter, Valentines.  The next two shelves are mostly stamps that can be used for my Stamp-a-Stacks - All occasions, sentiments and so on.  The rest is just a mix of whatever else I can't part with lol

These are two more Ikea units stacked one on top of the other.  The depth works well with these items - mostly my Project Life cards and then whatever else that is bulky.

I have one LARGE Ikea unit to the right of these units … it holds my 10 years of SU catalogues, binders with samples of my cards and so on.

This is a pic from last summer - showing where "it all happens" - before and after cleanup lol

So that's what I've been up to lately.  The Craft Cave hasn't been my only target - I've sorted the new Games Cupboard, the linen closet and we got two new units for the girls' bathroom … and so it goes.  I frequently say my job is "mover of stuff" - I spend most of my days moving things from one room to another, one cupboard to another, in or out of the house.  That's what I do.  Good thing I'm pretty good at it *lol*

That's it for today - more pictures to get into albums … I have a deadline of May 3rd to get 'er done.  It WILL happen!

Have yourself a stampy Monday!


Tam

All Packaged Up

Happy Sunday!

There's not a lot you can count on these days but one thing you CAN count on is that if it is the weekend I'm not sleeping.  Sigh.  Every Monday I could sleep until noon … Saturday and Sundays?  Awake at 4:30 am.  Today I decided to just get on with it … and … another thing you can usually count on is a Sunday morning blog post *lol*

Why can't I sleep?  I just have too much running through my head this week … and for the next few.  Rebecca turns 13 next Monday and we have something EPIC planned … so that is keeping my mind busy for many reasons and with may things.  All be be revealed next week so make SURE you come back to see what Momma got up to (*insert squeal of excitement here!!!)

So what have I been up to lately?  I haven't been crafting per se.  I'm on my semi-annual purge session. About twice a year I feel like I'm being buried alive in "stuff".  Everywhere I turn cupboards and drawers are bursting with "stuff".  Last weekend I spent a LOT of hours just putzing in my Craft Cave purging and organizing. Well … I SAY purging but really it was more like "throwing away old paperwork and selectively stacking everything else" lol.

One thing I DID get around to was organizing all my little "one day" gifts.  I had a rather large box of small gift items just waiting to be packaged, tagged and given away.  Little things I have picked up here and there over the last year or two.  Hand lotions, packages of teas and so on.  It was taking up valuable real estate in my Cave so I decided to DEAL with it.  Here is the result ...

I ended up with about 15 little packaged gifts that are all in one (smaller) box ready to go when I need one.  BBQ season is fast approaching and I always like to bring a little pack of hand-made cards to the hostess.  Hand lotions and bath gels are ready to give for a little birthday gift or "just because" when someone needs a pick-me-up.  Nothing makes my heart smile more than making someone ELSE smile and all these little gifts will do just that!

For my packaging I used up some of the bags and tags I've been hoarding.  Yes, shocking, I know, but I usually have a MINIMUM of 4 Tag a Bag kits on my shelf just waiting to be put together.  I used our clear Gusseted bags ($5.75 for 25 bags)…

And the Tag a Bag kits that are currently on the Clearance Rack for $4.79.  Can't beat THAT deal with a stick .. so I generally buy one every time I place an order (ya, ya, I have a problem … I know …)

To stamp the "For You" sentiment I used a Paper Pumpkin stamp set from a year or two ago (it was a Mother's Day kit, I believe).  Any " for you" or "to you" stamp will do!  I used our Basic Grey Archival Ink.  I didn't use the little coloured clips but I did use the twine … and the Bermuda Bay sticky strips.  I'm not really sure how they are intended to be used … as bag closures??  Dunno - I just used them to decorate the cello bag.  What the heck - if you've got it use it, right?

It took me about an hour and half to just chip away at making the tags, decorating the bags, tying them and so on.  It was SO relaxing!  It also made me feel a lot "lighter" to a) use up some of my supplies that were bought for just such a reason b) to clear space in my cave and c) to just stamp for fun - not because I had a class looming or a deadline to hit .. but just for fun … the whole reason I go into this crazy game 10 YEARS ago!

I spent another few hours organizing my shelves … but I'll share that in my next post.  Today, despite the temperature going up to a fabulous 23 degrees(!) I am working on getting those 968 pictures in my Project Life albums - another mission to get organized and use up some of the THOUSANDS of journaling cards I seem to have purchased *lol*.

Thanks for checking on me - whatever YOU get up to today I hope you have a stampy one :)


Tam

Awesomely Artistic Dragonfly

Happy Sunday!

Not much to report today - planning on it being a pajama day - no plans - just go with the flow … MAYBE start chipping away at getting those 968 photos into my Project Life album … maybe not … we'll see!

Today I'm sharing a SUPER quick, ridiculously easy card that works in any colour and for most occasions.  I CASEd it from Lisa Young over at www.addinkandstamp.blogspot.ca

Again, lighting is terrible but the card is awesome … naturally … I used the stamp set "Awesomely Artistic".  This is one of those sets you don't really notice, buy on a whim and then wonder why you didn't notice it sooner.  It's a great one!  I combined it with Perpetual Calendar for the water-colour splotch (another set you KNOW I use all the time if you follow my posts - it is a MUST HAVE!) and the sentiment is from a retired set - can't think of the name at the moment but next time I pop down to the craft cave I'll get it and amend this post.

I used Island Indigo ink.  Top tip - ink the water-colour splotch the "stamp off"on scrap paper first - then stamp on your card stock twice, without reinking to get a softer, graduated background.  Stamp the dragonfly fully inked, as well as the splotches.  The sentiment is on a strip of Whisper White measuring 3" x 3/4" and popped up on dimensionals.  Three rhinestones and some clear Wink of Stella finish it off.  SO quick, SO easy and SO pretty!

Right - think Ill go grab some breakfast before walking Koda.  I hope you have a stampy day!


Tam

Everyone Loves Balloons

Happy Friday!

Wow.  Where did the week go???  Last thing I remember it was Monday … ahhhh sweet Monday.  Craig went to work, kids were FINALLY back at school *lol* and I spent a glorious day tiding, cleaning, sorting and generally "putzing".  Bliss.

I have no recollection of Tuesday … Wednesday I remember getting my hair done and getting groceries - yesterday is a blur … oh!  Now I remember … Tuesday night I had class so was prepping in the day … yesterday was a half day for the kids and I got into "purge" mode … ya - the week was filled with a whole lot of nothing-special-but-busy-every-single-minute.  Life of a SAHM, right? lol

Today has been relaxing - started the day with Coffee and Cards with a few of my Ladies … but Alicia is home with yet ANOTHER sore throat / start of a cold.  Walk the dog, do my workout, tidy up and BAM!  Almost dinner time!  Just enough time to park my tush on the couch and share one of the cards I made for the Kids Class I taught over Spring Break.  Ready?

Super super SUPER love!!  The lighting obviously sucks but the card is great!  Is seriously doesn't get much quicker or easier than this card!!!  Perfect for man or woman, young or old … minimal supplies and quick quick quick!  I more or less CASEd the card from Pinterest (not really sure how I EVER crafted before Pinterest came along!!).  I can't give credit for my card to any one person - I drew from a few … of course I can't find which ones now that I'm looking … suffice it to say that it's sort of original but not really lol.

I used Whisper White card stock for the base and  Crushed Curry for the mat.  For the rest I used:

Balloon string from Party Wishes
Balloons from the Balloon Bouquet Punch
It's My Party DSP Stack
Sentiments from Happy Birthday, Evryone
Dimensionals and a rhinestone

Easy peasy!!  The kids rocked it and the adults love it!  You must must MUST get your hand on this balloon punch.  Seriously.  $22.00.  It's a keeper and you won't regret it!

Gotta run - dinner prep awaits!   Pop in again soon to see another quick and easy project.  Have a stampy night!


Tam

Tap, Tap, Tap Vintage Collage

Happy Sunday!

As usual I'm *up* bright and early … well … I say *up* but I'm actually in my standard semi-horizontal-couch lounging position so, more accurately, I'm *not sleeping*.  I just can't catch a break on the sleeping-front these days.  With Spring Break last week I DID have the luxury of sleeping in until 8:00 am most days … alas that usually resulted from a night of being awake for a few hours so I actually wasn't sleeping in as much as I was early morning napping!

Whilst Spring Break was fairly painless as far as kids fighting and driving me crazy goes, I am more than ready for life to get back to it's usual rhythm.  Rebecca was sick the week before break so she has been home almost a full two weeks.  Again, at 13 she doesn't *need* me every minute and I can certainly go out and run errands but having my people home really disrupts my schedule.  On a "normal" day I'm up at 6:30, workout at 9:00, walk the dog at 10 … and on it goes.  The last two weeks I've bee all over the map - Tuesday I didn't get my workout in until 7:30 PM!  On the bright side I seem to be making progress on my "be more flexible and go-with-the-flow" mission but MAN I prefer routine!  Tomorrow.  Just gotta make it to tomorrow *lol*.

Last weekend I DID manage to hit the Craft Cave for a little *me* time.  I came up with three VERY quick, simple, birthday cards for a kids class I did over the break (stay tuned for posts on those) … and I FINALLY inked up a stamp set I got quite some time ago … Tap, Tap, Tap.  Check out what I made …

The more I look at it the more I like it!  It has been SOOOO long since I created just for fun … to just "play" - use whatever grabs my attention.  It's so relaxing!

The process I use doesn't always follow the same pattern.  For this card I KNEW I wanted to use this stamp set  (Tap, Tap, Tap) ...

… so that's where I started.  I also THOUGHT I would use a stamp set that I bought to coordinate with the Tap, Tap, Tap set called "Words of Truth" as it has a typewriter font (and the sentiments are great!) …

… but in the end I just stuck with the Tap, Tap, Tap set.  Next I chose my colour palate - Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake.  The rest just flowed from there.  I used Soft Suede and Crumb Cake inks and used my Gold Wink Of Stella for some gold accents.  I used stamps from the Timeless Textures Stamp set …

… for the background collage effect.  I used one of the stamps to add texture/dimension to the 2 1/2" circle I punched out.  I added some gold thread around the alphabet layer, used my paper snips to cut out the typewriter and popped everything up on dimensionals.

Yup - kinds love it!  I'm hoping to get down to the cave again today but won't hold my breath.  Yesterday it was 22 degrees out … I can't hang out in the basement with such lovely weather!  We'll see … I'll go-with-the-flow *lol*

Pop in again soon to see my simple birthday cards.  If you're local let me know if you want to come to my class this Tuesday night - we'll be making this card and two others.  In the meantime, have a stampy Sunday!


Tam